The Animal In Me

He's Responsible For It

(Sam's POV)

We ran out into the woods, hearts broken and bleeding. Even though my thoughts were wild and angry, I still loved Ember. She was in every aspect of my life. She went to school with me, came over to my house, and was in my mind all the time.

I needed her as much as Alec or Malleroy. Personally, I think Malleroy could jump off a cliff...but who am I to say that? "Sam....what if we d-don't find her...a-alive? What'll happen then?" Alec's wolf whines and lowers his head.

"Shut up. We will find her. And she'll be fully alive. She'll be more beautiful than we could think she could be." I trail off, not wanting to get our hopes up any more.

I start to slow when we come across a gigantic black wolf, like the one we had to injure to keep away from Ember. It turns to the side, flashing us it's long white stripe. I growl and point my tail.

"Ah. The little pups. How nice to see you. Are you looking for that hot girl?" It says, digging in the snowy ground with a paw. My blood boils beneath my fur. "She has a name. And yeah. We're looking for her. Have you seen her?"

The wolf sighs, and looks over at us reluctantly. "I do know where she is. But you ain't gonna like it, lover boy." I snarl. "TAKE US TO HER!"

"Calm down, pup. God. Who said anything about taking y'all to her? I know I didn't." I slump on the cold ground and close my eyes. "We just want to see her."

"We? Are you sure? I think you just wanna see the babe. But, sorry dude. I can't take ya to her." I feel my heart break even more, if that's possible.

Alec stands strong beside me. "Take us to her, Enoch." Enoch. Why does that name sound familiar? Ugh. Never mind. I just want to find Ember.

The black wolf narrows his eyes at Alec. "How the hell do you know my name?" He asks, giving us a warning growl. Alec looks over at me, then back at Enoch. "I-I don't know. It just came to me for some reason."

Enoch raises his head high. "Hm. You, the stuttery one, what's your name? I think the babe said something about a brown haired boy a long time ago. Said you ran away for some reason."

Alec lowers his head. "O-oh. Yeah. Uhm. I did. But my name is Alec..." "Whatever. I don't really care." My blood boils beneath my fur. Why is he being such a prick? Can't he just take us to her?

"So...why the sudden interest in the babe?" Enoch asks, nonchalantly. I growl and flick my tail. "Why the sudden interest? Do you-Do you know who we are to her?! We mean more than you. You haven't been in her life for a week. You mean nothing to her," I scream.

"I must mean something because I'm the one who helped her get with her boyfriend! I mean something to her. It may be small, but I still have value to her," he snarls back. I huff and glance at Alec. "What can we do?" I send only to him.

"I don't know. This is a tough situation. Just tell him off." I nod. "Well, whatever, Enoch. Just do us a favor okay?" The wolf curls his lip. "What kind of favor?" "Just tell her we're done looking for her. She's on her own now."

He looks at me smugly and trots away. I sigh and shake my head. As I'm about to talk to Alec about what to do, there's a shuffling in a nearby bush. I run and pounce on the jumble of thorns. There's yelping from me and something else.

I pin it to the ground. "Hey! Hey! I know you guys! Ember talks about you all the time! Th-the stuttery one and the really hot one!!" A female sends to us. I release her neck and look at her closely.

She's a white wolf like Ember, minus the black stripe down her spine. She looks at me. "Oh. Wow. You really are hot. I'm Ridge! Nice to meet you guys." I stumble back at her remark. Hot? I'm anything but hot.

"Uhm. Hi, Ridge. You say you know Ember?" Her tail thumps on the snow. "Yup. She's my friend." "Do you know where she is?" Alec asks. Slowly, her tail stops and her ears droop.

"O-oh. Uhm. Yeah. I know where she is but I can't take you guys." "Then can you tell us?" I interject. "No. I'm sorry. I can't do anything that relates to her. I'm sorry." I groan and flop on the ground.

"Look, if I could help you guys, trust me I would. It's against the rules though." Alec sighs. "Well, thanks I guess." Ridge looks down at me. "Sam, Ember...she's just-don't worry about her anymore, okay?"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Alec explodes. She hops to her feet and glares. "Don't test me, mutt. I'm more powerful than you know. But I meant what I said. Quit looking for Ember. Okay? Please. Just do yourselves that favor." 

Favor? How is not searching for Ember a favor? She's everything to us. Ridge stands strong, obviously not going to budge on her command. "Stay away from us. Get her out of your head. Don't follow anyone. Okay?" She says.

Follow? If we can track Enoch down, maybe we'll be able to locate Ember! It's worth a shot, even though Ridge said not to. I don't care. I'm not gonna follow some Loner's advice.

I nod. "Fine." She comes over and licks our cheeks, lingering on mine for a second too long. "Thank you." With that, she bolts away, weaving in and out of view. I turn to Alec. "C'mon. Let's go."

I start sniffing the ground, trying to pick up that bastard's scent. "Wh-what are you doing? Aren't we g-going home?" I shake my head, still sniffing. "We're gonna find Ember."

"B-but you said-" "I say a lot of things, Alec, but that doesn't mean they're true. I lie. You lie. Ember lies. Everyone does. Okay? Now drop it and help me hunt down Enoch or whatever his name is."

Alec is the one who picks up the black wolf's trail. We slowly make our way to the ending of it.

*******

I stop and stare in awe. "Holy crap! Look at this, Sam! It's the biggest tree I've ever seen!" It really was the biggest tree either of us had ever laid eyes on. I knew trees here in Colorado got big, but this thing was on steroids.

Alec jumps in excitement. "This thing is remarkable," I mutter. "Yeah! Oh my gosh! I wonder how old it is and-" "Alec, calm down. It's a freaking tree." He sighs and chuckles at himself. "Right. S-sorry."

I gaze up at the fascinating body of wood. Jeez. Look at all the intricate designs. Many animals were carved into the wood. I could point out many different types close together. I glance over at Alec, who was zoning out on the tree.

"Alec. Hey, dude. Let's investigate." "H-huh? Oh. Okay. Y-you go first." "I said 'let's'. Meaning us." He stops and paws at the ground. "Uh. W-well, I'm not feeling too good, so m-maybe you should walk up to it and say the magic word." He fake coughs, causing his wolf to hack.

I cringe and back up. "You big baby. Why can't you be a man for once?" Alec laughs. "Because. I'm the brains of this operation. You're the muscle and Ember is the pretty distraction."

I frown. "Don't do that. You look creepy," Alec mumbles. I sigh and cautiously tread up to the tree. "Let's hope it's bark is worse than its bite," Alec says, laughing at his own joke. I shake my head. "Not helping!"

I dig at the roots. Hm. It's leaking some type of liquid. Kinda...red. More of the liquid squirts out, splashing me in the face. I screech and stumble back. "What are you guys doing here?"

Alec and I glance up at the same time. What we see is maddening. You!? But....